WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) today announced the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded Shelby County, Tennessee $2,619,999 to develop a Mid-South Regional Greenprint and Sustainability Plan. The development plan will address the critical need for initiating long-term comprehensive land use planning in the region.

“It is important that we develop a comprehensive land use plan that will spur economic development and improve housing and transportation in Memphis,” said Congressman Cohen. “These new federal funds will help Shelby County develop a Mid-South Regional Greenprint and Sustainability plan that will grow our city in a way that makes it easier for Memphians to find work, quality housing and utilize mass transit to improve their quality of life.”

Effective community engagement and capacity building are critical to the process and the project proposes to demonstrate a citizen-based regional planning process. This process will be driven by a consortium working in partnership with governmental bodies and the private sector to establish a regional vision and structure for ongoing engagement and setting goals for the major focus areas of the working groups.

Once a vision has been developed and working groups have established goals and priorities, the project will advance to funding sub-area or topic-focused plans or pilot planning efforts from the regional to neighborhood level. Implementation of these sub-plans is expected to occur through adoption of formal policy recommendations, citizen advocacy and realignment of budgets and capital improvement plans investments/staffing.

Partners in the program include The West Memphis MPO, The Mid-South Regional Greenways Steering Committee, ULI-Memphis, The Hyde Family Foundation, Memphis Regional Design Center, Community Development Council of Greater Memphis, and the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center.